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Books Sarah Palin Wanted Banned

Update & Correction: See Mary’s comment below, which links to this Snopes debunking of the story about Palin. This list, though, remains representative of the sort of cultural limits that the radical right would like to enforce; insofar as the vice presidential nominee is a radical Christianist, she subscribes to an ideology that is in favor of banning books like the ones listed below, all of which have come under attack in the past by would-be censors. So, perhaps a reporter of debate moderator will ask, “Mrs. Palin, which books did you have in mind when you enquired of Mary Ellen Emmons, the town librarian of Wasilla, whether it might be possible to remove certain titles?”

According to someone posting a comment to Maureen Dowd’s column at the New York Times, this is the list of books that Sarah Palin tried to have removed from the Wasilla Public Library. The commenter says the list comes from the official minutes of the Library Board and that when Palin was unsuccessful at having these books banned, she tried to have the librarian fired. The list:

A Clockwork Orange by Anthony BurgessA Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’EngleAnnie on My Mind by Nancy GardenAs I Lay Dying by William FaulknerBlubber by Judy BlumeBrave New World by Aldous HuxleyBridge to Terabithia by Katherine PatersonCanterbury Tales by Geoffrey ChaucerCarrie by Stephen KingCatch-22 by Joseph HellerChristine by Stephen KingConfessions by Jean-Jacques RousseauCujo by Stephen KingCurses, Hexes, and Spells by Daniel CohenDaddy’s Roommate by Michael WillhoiteDay No Pigs Would Die by Robert PeckDeath of a Salesman by Arthur MillerDecameron by BoccaccioEast of Eden by John SteinbeckFallen Angels by Walter MyersFanny Hill (Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure) by John ClelandFlowers For Algernon by Daniel KeyesForever by Judy BlumeGrendel by John Champlin GardnerHalloween ABC by Eve MerriamHarry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. RowlingHarry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. RowlingHarry Potter and the Prizoner of Azkaban by J.K. RowlingHarry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. RowlingHave to Go by Robert MunschHeather Has Two Mommies by Leslea NewmanHow to Eat Fried Worms by Thomas RockwellHuckleberry Finn by Mark TwainI Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya AngelouIn the Night Kitchen by Maurice SendakIt’s Okay if You Don’t Love Me by Norma KleinJames and the Giant Peach by Roald DahlLady Chatterley’s Lover by D.H. LawrenceLeaves of Grass by Walt WhitmanLittle Red Riding Hood by Jacob and Wilhelm GrimmLord of the Flies by William GoldingLove is One of the Choices by Norma KleinLysistrata by AristophanesMore Scary Stories in the Dark by Alvin SchwartzMy Brother Sam Is Dead by James Lincoln Collier and ChristopherCollierMy House by Nikki GiovanniMy Friend Flicka by Mary O’HaraNight Chills by Dean KoontzOf Mice and Men by John SteinbeckOn My Honor by Marion Dane BauerOne Day in The Life of Ivan Denisovich by Alexander SolzhenitsynOne Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken KeseyOne Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia MarquezOrdinary People by Judith GuestOur Bodies, Ourselves by Boston Women’s Health CollectivePrince of Tides by Pat ConroyRevolting Rhymes by Roald DahlScary Stories 3: More Tales to Chill Your Bones by Alvin SchwartzScary Stories in the Dark by Alvin SchwartzA Separate Peace by John KnowlesSilas Marner by George EliotSlaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice BurroughsThe Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark TwainThe Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark TwainThe Bastard by John JakesThe Catcher in the Rye by J.D. SalingerThe Chocolate War by Robert CormierThe Color Purple by Alice WalkerThe Devil’s Alternative by Frederick F

Several things are worth noting about this list, the first being that while some of the titles are clearly included because they are thought by Christianists to be “inappropriate for children,” this is not a school library we’re talking about but the town’s public library. Sarah Palin, then, would like to erase Mark Twain, Walt Whitman, John Knowles, Alice Walker, and Arthur Miller from American literature. It would be interesting if some reporter could ask Mrs. Palin what, specifically, she objects to in these texts; because I’d bet she hasn’t read them, that they come off some fundamentalist master list. There’s another category of books on the list — typified by the J.K. Rowling titles — that indicate the way in which Christianists are offended by any form of magic other than their own kind of magic. Some of the picks are just bizarre: “Mrs. Palin,” one would like to hear the debate moderator ask, “What is it about One Day in The Life of Ivan Denisovich by Alexander Solzhenitsyn that you find offensive? or One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez?” Of course it will never happen. Later: Reading the list over again just now, it’s also pretty clear that Palin is frightened of adolescence & would like to be able to ban the introspection & sexual energy of young people. Her desire to take J.D. Salinger & John Knowles off the shelves is really just an extension of the “abstinence only” sex-ed policies she favors for school children & that have served her family so well.